Luke Pell firmly denies "player" and "cheater" claims by 'The Bachelor's Lauren Hussey and blogger Airelle Snyder

Luke Pell is denying claims he's a womanizer after two ladies, Lauren Hussey and Airelle Snyder, came forward alleging they both got "played like a fiddle" by the almost-The Bachelor star.


Hussey -- who was ousted by Nick Viall on Night 1 of The Bachelor's 21st season, which almost starred Pell -- appeared on Snyder's YouTube channel to discuss her heartbreak.

Both Hussey and Snyder, a fashion blogger who is currently dating The Bachelorette winner Jordan Rodgers' brother Luke Rodgers, insisted they both got "played" by Pell.

"They want to slash my character," Pell, a singer and war veteran, told Us Weekly. "I'm respectful. If they want to take it in another direction, that's their prerogative. I don't approve of it, but that's their choice."

Snyder didn't reveal much about Pell in her YouTube video titled "The Almost Bachelor: Our Untold Story" other than claiming the cowboy "ghosted" on her "after two weeks" of talking and allowed Snyder (who reportedly applied for Season 21) to think they would've gotten engaged had he starred on The Bachelor and she competed for his heart.


But Hussey, who was initially led to believe she'd be competing for Pell on The Bachelor instead of Viall, wasn't shy to share her story.

Hussey explained she reached out to Pell shortly after Viall eliminated her on The Bachelor's first night of taping.

"We ended up meeting up and there was something there, or so I thought," noted the blonde beauty. "One thing led to another. We were hanging out more and more."

Hussey, 30, said Pell, 32, visited her in her hometown of Naples, FL, a couple of times, while she visited him a few times in Nashville, TN.  

Pell confirmed to Us that Hussey reached out to him in early October after she got sent home from The Bachelor. 


"We kept our relationship quiet and got to know each other," Pell shared. "We didn't know how to handle it, if we wanted to go public or stay private. I was trying to take it slow. There's so much pressure and attention on social media. I didn't want to make this harder than it had to be."

But Hussey called her romance with Pell a "whirlwind." She said one thing that "really surprised" her was the fact their romance "moved pretty quickly, faster than I was expecting [or was] comfortable with too. [He was] just being very affectionate right off the bat."

Hussey told Snyder in the YouTube video she "thought there was something special. He made me believe there was something special... He met my friends right off the bat and they were really impressed with him too... Everyone was pleasantly surprised by him immediately. But there was something right off the bat that kind of irked me."

Hussey said she trusted Pell too quickly because of his sweet talk. He allegedly told her that he was only interested in her, and then the pair agreed not to see other people.

In January, Pell even met Hussey's family while visiting their home in Colorado. The couple then watched the premiere of Viall's season together during that trip.


"Just the idea that we could have been on the show together made things a little strange because, I think, at times we were like, 'Wow, we could be engaged right now'... Things were progressing between us, and I liked where things were going. He met my family and made me feel very comfortable... His actions showed me that we had something, which I was very wrong about."
  
Lauren later moved to Nashville in order to be closer to Pell. She said in the video she expected to do fun things together, but instead, there was "something odd" about his behavior and he was "not as attentive" as before. 

"Two weeks into January, I just knew it wasn't going to work," Pell told Us. "We had a breakup conversation [but] we went through a phase where we still talked and still texted with each other. It was hard. But then we got past it. We stopped talking completely."

Hussey alleged she found things on Pell's phone, which ultimately ended their relationship.

"I found out some things. I've been told a lot since then, and it seems like nothing we had was special. Things said to me were being said to other people. I found proof I wasn't the only person and he admitted to it," Hussey revealed. "It ended pretty soon. I had so many hopes and dreams... I didn't want to let go. I thought it was a fairytale... He talked about our future."

As for Pell's experience with Snyder, he said they "talked back and forth maybe three times at the most." They met last summer through mutual friends when she was still in contention to appear on The Bachelor. Snyder suggested on YouTube that Pell was "a completely different person" than viewers saw of his "picture perfect image" on television when he fought for JoJo Fletcher's heart on The Bachelorette.


"I was over all dating conversations at that point and I wanted to move on," Pell said. "She was someone I talked to a few times, so this wasn't a big deal. I just stopped talking to her. On that video, she made it seem liked I dated her, but there is no way I ever dated her! There was never a relationship to break up from. It was never at that level."

Pell sniped that Snyder must just be craving attention and fame.

"It seems like she wants the social media attention of saying that she dated me, which has more weight than saying she talked to me a few times. Nobody cares about that. If it looks like I did her wrong and did her an injustice then she gets more attention," Pell explained.

Snyder didn't get into the details of her fling with Pell other than the fact, as previously mentioned, he ghosted on her after two weeks. She did not specify whether they ever went out on dates or just texted and talked on the phone, but she did say Pell suggested they could be "a power couple" together.

Snyder also said Pell was the one who tried to persuade her to compete on The Bachelor to begin with when he was supposed to star on the ABC reality dating series.


"I care nothing about being famous as I never wanted to go on TV. I always wanted a normal relationship with him. The video was meant to help women look for signs in their relationships to save them from heartbreak. Lauren's story, which was shared on my YouTube channel, is meant to not only help women but to save these poor girls who may believe his story," Snyder told Us.

"What he is doing to women is unacceptable. No one should stand for such behavior. When he started name calling and attacking my current relationship it clearly made him look guilty. I truly hope he finds a way to make this right and publicly apologize for treating women so poorly."

Snyder also said in her YouTube video that there's much more to their stories about Pell but they weren't willing to share.

As for right now, Pell told the magazine he is currently single. He said although he was getting to know Danielle Lombard from Viall's season of The Bachelor, they're not dating.

"Danielle and I have fun together," Pell said. "We're not exclusive. We haven't opened up about our pasts because we're not there. We're just friends."

Pell has been the subject of backlash since Hussey and Snyder made their statements, but he's apparently letting "player" and "douche" accusations roll off his back. In a tweet on April 4, Pell shared a meme "haters gonna hate; trolls gonna troll."


"I am who I am, and I don't have time for people who sit in their basement and troll people on Twitter," Pell told the magazine. "Anybody I respect couldn't care less."






About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski